Dawn Koh
Director Chris Columbus who directed Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone has converted Larry Doyle‘s Thurber Prize-winning novel to his latest film, I Love You, Beth Cooper. If you’ve enjoyed the novel though, this film which sneaks into local cinemas on Sep 3, will be a disappointment. In fact, you”ll feel let down even if you’ve never read the novel. Simply put, I Love You, Beth Cooper is a total drag.
The film starts off at a graduation ceremony where valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) makes sure he leaves high school with no regrets. He confesses his love for super hot cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere), whom he’s had a crush on since seventh grade.
Although embarrassed by Denis, Beth is moved by his courage and, shows up with 2 other girlfriends for his pathetic graduation party where his only guest is his best friend, Rich (Jack Carpenter). Beth’s possessive military-trained boyfriend, Kevin (Shawn Roberts) gets angry and decides to teach Denis a lesson.
Kevin’s hunt for Denis then causes Denis a nightmare. And that made Denis realise that the Beth he’s out with isn’t the one he had fallen in love with during the escape from Kevin. But that didn’t change his feelings or stop him from promising to marry her if they’re both still single during their high school reunion. “That’s a promise,” Beth breathes, marking the end of the film.
I Love You, Beth Cooper is a dreadfully boring film and poorly cast to top it off. Rust (Psycho Sleepover) obviously looks too old to be a high school graduate. His timid character failed him as well, making him less memorable.
Heroes “save the cheerleader, save the world” actress Hayden Panettiere was also wrong for the part. The 20-year-old was supposed to be a perfect epitome of a super hot bitch in high school. Though she has the gorgeous long blonde hair, her petite frame of only 5’1 was a stretch for a hottie. In addition to that, Hayden’s simply too nice to be Beth Cooper, and that, unfortunately, came through. It’s probably a compliment, especially in Hollywood, if you don’t come across as a bitch, but not if you’re an actress trying to play the part of one.
Talking about a credibility problem, there were a few scenes that were clearly unbelievable. Kevin was so strong he could throw a microwave oven like he was some superhero. Denis seemed to escape without a scratch and could even run after he was thrown off the roof by Kevin and knocked down by Beth’s car. Did they accidentally imbibe the powers of Panettiere’s mutant super power pals from Heroes for an uncut episode or was this meant to be a chick flick?
The confusion and awkwardness lasted till the movie ended with no proper closure to Denis and Beth’s relationship. So the question lingers, are Denis and Beth married? Did they move on with their lives? Or did Kevin continue to hunt Denis down? Do we really care?
Trailer:
Movie Details
Opens: Sep 3
Duration: 102 min
Language: English
Rating: NC-16
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Director: Chris Columbus
Cast: Paul Rust, Hayden Panettiere, Jack Carpenter